Barack Obama

Latest Stats

official sites

hometown

Chicago/Washington, D.C.

place of birth

Honolulu

current job/title

President

education

B.A. in political science

Columbia, 1983

J.D.

Harvard University, 1991

About Barack Obama

Incumbent President Barack Obama faces re-election amid stifled economic recovery and a lag in job creation. In October, he said "We can't wait" to pass a job-creation proposal and he urged Republicans to take up the issue.

Despite stimulus measures, the U.S.'s triple-A credit rating was downgraded during his first term. He also bailed out the auto industry.

He championed and oversaw the passage of a controversial health-care overhaul, which many Republican contenders have said they will move immediately to repeal.

During his term, Mr. Obama also saw the killing of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan, and presided over the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in Iraq in August 2011.

The president prodded Congress to act to avoid automatic spending cuts set to kick in March 1, as Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles proposed a plan for rewriting the tax code and implementing deep spending cuts.

Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a new government are being complicated by an unlikely alliance between two parties with opposing views on the Palestinians, challenging the Israeli leader ahead of President Obama's visit next month.

Presidents get to hang with pretty much any professional athlete they want, and Barack Obama is taking full advantage of the perk during his long weekend in South Florida. Sunday, the president teed it up with Tiger Woods at Floridian Yacht and Golf Club in Palm City, Fla.